Football is a certain science often difficult to understand or explain. It is such that the impossible is sometimes possible.
So when you have the opportunity to meet your opponent in a knock out tie at home in the first leg, you make the most out of it to give yourself a chance of progressing to the next stage of the competition.
That was exactly what Tunisia giants Esperance Sportive de Tunis did against Ghanaian club Accra Hearts of Oak last Sunday when they met in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup playoffs.
The former CAF inter-club football continental champions demolished Accra Hearts of Oak 4-0 at the Rades Sports Stadium in Tunis, and have the edge of progressing to the ‘money zone’ of CAF’s second elite club tournament.
Esperance must avoid a 5-0 defeat in the second leg to progress to the group stages of the competition, but defender Harrison Afful who scored the third of the four goals said Esperance are leaving no stone unturn because football is unpredictable.
“Accra Hearts of Oak is one of the biggest clubs on the continent and have a lot of experience when it comes to CAF competitions,” the Black Stars versatile defender noted.
“Football is such that anything can happen so the most important thing is that when you are playing at home in the first leg (of a playoff tie), you make sure you kill the game because you don’t know what will happen when you go away.
“Hearts of Oak still have a chance and we have to work hard to ensure we progress to the next round because Esperance have been in the (CAF) Champions league each and every year and this year we are out; so this is a different competition to us.
“Hearts of Oak was our first game in this (Confederation Cup) competition and we just have to keep working hard and make sure we do well in the competition,” he said.
The second leg will take place at the Accra Sports Stadium in a forthnight.
For more sports news visit allSports.com.gh
This article has 0 comment, leave your comment.